Deadliest Brazil Fire in Half Century Kills More Than 230

By Matthew Malinowski and Raymond Colitt -
Jan 28, 2013

Brazilian police detained an owner
of the nightclub where 231 people perished in a weekend fire,
the nation’s deadliest blaze since 1961.

Authorities are questioning the owner and two members of
the band whose pyrotechnic display caused the fire, according to
a statement from Rio Grande do Sul state, where the tragedy
occurred. The club, in the city of Santa Maria, didn’t have
permission to use fireworks, local District Attorney Joel Dutra
said today in an interview.

Funeral services started to be held for the victims, most
of whom died from inhaling smoke. The blaze started after a
flare set fire to foam sound-proofing insulation, provoking a
stampede toward the club’s only exit. Videos posted on YouTube
showed a smoke-filled scene outside the building as firefighters
and shirtless club-goers dragged people into the street.

“People were screaming and trying to run to the exit,”
Luciene Louzeiro, a survivor of the incident who was near the
stage when the fire started, said in a televised interview with
Globo. “It was horrible. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Police will take the other owner of the Kiss nightclub into
custody today, Dutra said.

Fire Permit

The club’s fire permit expired last year, exposing owners
and even city officials to possible criminal charges, said a
press official for the municipal government, who asked not to be
named because of internal policy. Kiss had all the “equipment
necessary” to fight the fire, and management is working with
authorities to investigate, the club said in statement
distributed by law firm Kummel & Kummel.

At least 80 funerals are scheduled to take place today in
Santa Maria, according to the municipal government. Brazilian
families normally hold funeral services within a day of the
death. Seventy-nine people remain hospitalized in local
facilities, while 65 others were sent to nearby cities and towns
for treatment, the Santa Maria government said on its website.

“I went to Santa Maria yesterday and the pain I witnessed
was indescribable,” President Dilma Rousseff said in Brasilia
while addressing a gathering of mayors elected last year. “I
talk about that pain to remind us of the responsibility we as
executives all have to our populations. In the face of that
tragedy, we have the duty to ensure that tragedy never happens
again.”

The club was hosting a party for a group of students from
the Federal University of Santa Maria who were celebrating the
end of their summer break. The band, Gurizada Fandangueira, was
playing Brazilian folk music, known as forro, at the time the
fire started. One of its members is among the victims, Globo
reported, citing the band’s drummer, Eliel de Lima.

Smoke Inhalation

Most of the victims died from smoke inhalation, Andre
Diefenbach, an official with the municipality’s police
department, said in a telephone interview yesterday. Some may
have perished as they attempted to reach the club’s doors, while
others died after running into the bathroom, he said. Some of
the club’s security guards initially stopped people from leaving
the premises before paying, witnesses told local media. In
Brazil, club-goers normally pay for their drinks on their way
out.

One video shot amid the chaotic scene showed several bodies
on the ground outside the club. Medical personnel checked them
for signs of life and carried them away on stretchers. A woman
can be heard shrieking in the background.

Site Visits

Authorities plan to carry out on-site visits of all
nightclubs in the state to assure they meet safety standards,
said Dutra. Officials will give owners of clubs that aren’t
complying with regulations the choice to upgrade facilities or
face closure, he said.

Investigators are focusing on the material of the club’s
ceiling and the pyrotechnic display as the cause of the fire,
Dutra said, adding that social networks are also being used to
gather evidence.

Results of the investigation could prompt the Rio Grande do
Sul state public prosecutor to recommend tougher legislation to
prevent a repeat of such a tragedy, state Governor Tarso Genro
said today, according to an e-mailed statement from his press
office.

Police Investigation

Genro yesterday called for a “profound, incisive and rapid
police investigation with scientific and technical evidence so
that we can find out the real causes of our tragedy,” according
to a statement on his government’s website. “We are well-
equipped to examine the evidence.”

The incident prompted Rousseff to cut short her
participation in a summit of Latin American and European leaders
in Santiago yesterday so she could return to Brazil.
The president has declared three days of mourning across the
country.

Rio Grande do Sul Attorney General Eduardo de Lima Veiga
said he will oversee the first investigations into the causes of
the fire.

There may have been as many as 900 people in the club,
which has a capacity of about 2,000, said Diefenbach, the police
official. Some security guards have been accused of not letting
people leave before paying, Diefenbach said.

“I saw black smoke coming in my direction,” Fernanda
Bona, who managed to escape the blaze, said in a televised
interview with Globo. “Hundreds and hundreds of people were
going for the same door, but because this area was so near the
door not many people were able to leave. When I ran out, I
didn’t have any idea how bad it was going to be. Ten minutes
later I saw people, bodies, more and more people burnt, unable
to walk.”

Worst Fire

The incident is the worst fire in Brazil since 1961, when
503 people died at a circus in the state of Rio de Janeiro, the
newspaper Folha de S. Paulosaid. Brazil is seeking to improve
its safety record before it hosts the soccer World Cup in 2014.

In 2004, a blaze at a rock concert in Buenos Aires killed
193, and the nightclub owner was convicted of manslaughter. In
the U.S., fireworks led to the death of 100 people at a club in
Warwick, Rhode Island, in 2003 when a pyrotechnics malfunction
ignited foam used as soundproofing on the club’s walls.

The Rhode Island incident brought changes to the state’s
fire code. Officials banned pyrotechnics in most venues and
local fire marshals were empowered to fine violators.
Authorities ordered that sprinklers be installed in nightclubs
and bars with a capacity of more than 100 people, and nightclub
workers were required to receive fire safety training.

Santa Maria, with more than 250,000 residents, is about 800
kilometers (500 miles) southwest of Sao Paulo city. It has a
young population because of its large number of universities.